We didn’t have to get up as early so we had a bit of a lazy morning. We got on the road to Boynton to pick up Grampye, and drove down the block to Pei Wei, a fast casual pan-Asian restaurant that we had visited with Bubbe and Grampye exactly one year earlier. The visual menu was helpful, and Grampye, of course, ordered one of the spiciest items on the menu: General Tsao’s beef; Arielle ordered the small teriyaki tofu and vegetables, and Abe got the Mongolian beef. We sat outside and were shocked at how quickly our food came out! Although Grampye’’s meal seemed to be too spicy even for him, he enjoyed it, as did we. Grampye has missed driving since he sold his car a few years ago, so we wanted to give him a chance to traverse the area like he used to. Our first stop was the dollar store, where Arielle helped him determine the right scent of shampoo (she didn’t see any other distinction between the varieties), in addition to ensuring that he would have more than enough delicious snacks at home. We wandered next door to the supermarket, where he was fascinated by the bountifulness and variety of onions, but otherwise found nothing he would enjoy. So we made our way to a place we knew he would love: Target. By the time we left this Disneyland-like place, Grampye announced that he could spend the weekend there. On our way back to his home, we passed a car accident and Abe noticed that the car was still smoking, just as Arielle saw that a small dog was peeking his head out the front window. They immediately realized the accident had just happened, so Arielle jumped out of the car to help. Several other people rushed to the scene and Arielle called 9-1-1 while telling the others not to move the riders from the car. Despite her advice, two gentlemen helped the two female drivers out of their cars and onto the grass. Both seemed very shaken up, but otherwise safe. Their cars, on the other hand, had crumbled in the front; they had done exactly what they were supposed to do, absorbing the impact and protecting their passengers. Grampye and Abe and parked in the nearby parking lot and walked back to Arielle to make sure everything was okay. She requested a charger to keep with her just in case, and said that they could continue on; she would either uber back or call Abe to get her. After police and ambulances arrived and Arielle ensured that she was no longer needed, she decided to walk back to Grampye’s home, which was only about 25 minutes away, an endeavor she will likely never undertake again since there were no sidewalks. Throughout the course of the week, it seemed clear to us that drivers in South Florida might possibly be the worst that we’ve experienced in the United States.
We said goodbye to Grampye shortly thereafter, went to get gas, and drove to a nearby Coldstone, where Abe got his signature Chocolate Devotion with a scoop of banana, and they all sat outside to enjoy the warm Florida weather. We were thrilled to get to spend a little time with Arielle’s former seventh grade English teacher and longtime friend, Dean, who regaled us with stories of his adventures in Italy, across the U.S., and around the world. While it was a short visit, we were so glad we got to see him!
We got back on I-95 headed south, hitting less traffic than we expected to at rush hour, but more than we found enjoyable! We picked up Andrew and Lauren and headed to dinner at Foozo, a kosher dairy restaurant in North Miami Beach for a Valentine’s Day double date! Abe’s food was brought out first, even though it was definitely not what he ordered. When his actual food still arrived first, he found his mushroom alfredo pasta to be “fine,” and he didn’t understand why there was so much parmesan cheese in it. Lauren got the Foozo sandwich, which she loved as always. Andrew and Arielle shared the Foozo pizza and the Caprese sandwich, which they both found to be delightful! We were also surprised when the appetizer that Abe ordered, the Spinach Foozrolls, came out at the end of the meal, and we were excited until we realized that this interesting appetizer looked like dry rugelach, but tasted like it, and later we, had been bathed in garlic.
On our drive home, we saw that our mileage had hit 40,000. We really enjoyed catching up with these wonderful friends and are so grateful that we were able to see and spend time with them before they left for Cuba!
Approximate number of miles covered: 97
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